Again last Saturday night, former President Donald J. Trump claimed the election of Joe Biden will “go down as the crime of the century.”
While that remains The Big Lie , well, let us not forget The Second Big Lie: Millions of Americans are staying at home collecting ‘overly generous’ unemployment instead of working.
In the same cable news hours where Trump’s comments echoed, for example, a segment had employers claiming ‘people just don’t want to work.’ That’s gospel to many (including some of my family members) that, well, helping the unemployed ‘entitles them’ to let “us” support them.
A few quick reminders…
- Well before the pandemic the economy had tons of unfilled jobs.
- There just aren’t enough workers. As noted in Sunday’s The New York Times, “Population growth for Americans between ages 20 and 64 turned negative last year for the first time in the nation’s history.” The size of the workforce age population is growing at less than half what it did at the beginning of the century. [ NYT 6/6/21 front page & inside]
- Not every potential worker can do every open job. Right now gasoline companies need tanker truck drivers…work requires nights and weekends, a Commercial Driver License with a hazardous materials endorsement, and, the ability to schlep 100 pound connecting houses between the tanker and the tanks. Oh yes, the gasoline is highly toxic and dangerous. Or, be the lone employee at a convenience store from midnight to 8:00 a.m. Bring your own gun.
- Amazon They employ more than 1.25 million workers – around 1.1 million more than they did a decade ago. They hire people without college degrees or advanced skills.
Yes, a lack of potential employees remains a real problem, even in St. Francois County, Missouri, as the lead at the local Missouri Jobs Center, Becky Murphy notes:
“I don’t know if it’s the type of jobs, but there are jobs all over the spectrum, so I can’t imagine it’s that. It’s not even just one industry,” she said. “It’s across all industries, that if an employer has one position open, they could easily have 20-30 open that they’re looking to fill. It’s a really bizarre time that we haven’t seen before. ” – Becky Murphy, Missouri Job Center
So, if it’s a problem in the “good Missouri” where conservative, God-loving rural Republicans dominate, it must be an issue everywhere.
Let’s talk Capitalism: if your product doesn’t sell you stop selling it. If you can’t staff a restaurant you adapt by making the jobs more attractive, or, you close your doors.
Instead of embracing Capitalism, His Accidency in Missouri and other Republican governors are slashing unemployment benefits – leaving $12 billion in approved federal assistance on the table (according to CNBC). These governors embrace communism: everyone must work and we will control how much they get paid and where they work. Forced collectivization and industrialization worked so well for Stalin, it must be Missouri’s best answer too. Make workers starve while cooking burgers a few hours a week or else.
Like the first, the Second Big Lie will be with us a good while longer.
Glenn Koenen